History Main / DarkAgeOfSupernames

** It got worse later on in the franchise. And then Generation 2 happened, and they must have thought "We're running out of names, so let's take older names and make 'em cooler", so that gave stuff like Staxx (who is a semi-truck with smokestacks...).

* ''Youngblood'': Deathshot, Vogue, Chapel, Psylence (sometimes Psilence), Bloodwolf, Diehard, Wylder. RobLiefeld was one of the big popularizers of this trope, and probably helped everyone get sick of it too.

* Penance - not the Marvel character who used to be Speedball.

* ''TheGlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'': Oh my, were there several. Some players just couldn't get over the fact that the games were supposedly running under BronzeAge ideals and not DarkAge ideals. Ballistic, Ambush, Battlecat, Twilight, Recoil, Fracture, Fusillade, Shift, Flux, and Ablaze are just a random ten, and those are the ''heroes''.

->-- 90's Kid in '''[[AtopTheFourthWall Linkara's]]''' review of ''Cable #1''

* {{Nightwing}} celebrated his own ongoing series by moving to a town named [[HeavyMetalUmlaut Blüdhaven]]. It was described as being close to Gotham (the Bat-Family frequently guest-starred in each other's comics), but was also described unambiguously as more crime-ridden and corrupt than Gotham, although 50+ years of comics never saw Batman so much as chase a purse-snatcher there Eventually the whole city got destroyed during the ''InfiniteCrisis'' crossover event.

* {{X-Men}} villain Holocaust is notable for having ''too'' dark a name. When toy company [=ToyBiz=] made an action figure of him, they changed it to the less genocidal Dark Nemesis.

** Morrison did, however, deconstruct this trope in ''Aztek, The Ultimate Man'' with Bloodtype and Death-Doll. It turned out they used to be Mr. America and Liberty Lass ([[Tagline the crime-fighting husband and wife team that doesn't know each other's secret identities!]]), at least until they ran afoul of the DarkAge.

* The GrantMorrison StealthParody one-shot ''[[DoomPatrol Doom Force]]'' did not have this with the titular team. The mock editorial, however listed many other Doom Force characters with such names as Lock And Load.

* Slightly before this was Wild Dog, who might best be described as ThePunisher dressed for some hockey. In his defense, he really did used to be a hockey player in his school days, and his school's mascot was the Wild Dog.

* {{Dragon Age}} 2 will require you to play as a human character named Hawke. {{Word of God}} states that Hawke [[{{MarySue}} will be the most important character in the game's universe.]] For those who wanted to play another [[{{GayOption}} bi-curious]] [[{{OurElvesAreBetter}} Dalish Elf]], prospects don't look so good.
** Note that Hawke is the protagonist's surname, and that the given name will still be the player's choice.

** Note that Hawke is the protagonist's surname, and the given name will still be the player's choice.

* X-Men 2099 had some of the best. Skullfire, Bloodhawk, Metalhead, Meanstreak, Junkpile, and Psyclone. Note that those are all members of the actual X-Men.

* Adam X the X-treme. Hellion, Warpath, Rage, Warstar, Kill Power, Nemesis, Onyxx, Thornn, Darkdevil,

* Parodied ruthlessly with the New Zealand comic ''[[http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/b/blodface.htm Bloodface]]'', and his team the "Bloodgroup", all of whom have Blood in their names, constantly scream and grimace, and are drawn like Rob Liefeld characters. Tonly female member of the team is called [[{{Squick}} Wandering Menstrual]]

* [[BlazBlue Ragna the Bloodedge]].
** Then again, he ''is'' a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin vampire who uses a sword.]] This is arguably a JustifiedTrope, unlike many of the examples on this page.

* ''So many'' Warhammer40K names, for [[DarkerAndEdgier understandable]] [[UpToEleven reasons]]. Ragnar Blackmane, Night Haunter, Doomrider, Huron Blackheart... Shall I continue?
** Night Haunter's given name is Konrad Kurze, which I'm pretty sure is the emboyment of this trope.
* In the MutantsAndMasterminds setting "Freedom City", the "Iron Age" of the 1980s involved the criminalization of super-heroics in the titular burg. Enter FORCE Ops ('''F'''reelance '''Or'''ganization of '''C'''riminal '''E'''limination '''Op'''eratives), a bad-ass team of heroes fighting a no-holds-barred battle against crime AND the authoritarian government. Members include: ''Kismet'', a mysterious mercenary; ''Network'', an elite hacker turned into pure energy; and ''Nightrage'', a super-heroic vampire.
* The ''Cyberpunk 2020'' RPG included quotes from characters with names like Ripperjack and Morgan Blackhand. Appropriate to the [[CyberPunk genre]], though at times they come across more like parodies of self-consciously "edgy" tough guys (which may have been intentional).

Most names became one word, usually gritty, edgy, and trendy. At times, two words were merged into a single name, usually including some combination of Dark, Blood, or a verb for killing. Because [[AtopTheFourthWall substandard literacy is kewl]], they are occasionally [[XtremeKoolLetterz creatively misspelled]] in clever ways like Darkchylde, Stryker, or Bloodwulf -- which coincidentally makes the names easier to trademark.

* The miniseries ''Bloodlines'' produced a whole slew of these: Ballistic, Cardinal Sin, Edge, Gunfire, Hook, Jamm, Krag, Loose Cannon, Mongrel ([[UnfortunateImplications an African-American/Vietnamese superhero]]), Nightblade, Razorsharp, Terrorsmith... it goes on and on. There was also Hitman, who was [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly that]], but his comic ran with it, in a DeadBabyComedy sort of way.
** Ironically, there [[TruthInTelevision really was]] a Filipino Catholic priest who became a cardinal. His last name? Sin.
*** In turn, the former head of the Boston diocese was one Cardinal Law.
** In Hitman's own series, there was Nightfist, a tough vigilante who shows no mercy and ''will'' hit you, with his fists, hard. Friendly Fire might also qualify.

*** Except that later turns out to be false, as a lot of them did appear after that story. However, that comment is HarsherInHindsight as a lot of those later appearances used them as CListFodder for stories like ''InfiniteCrisis'' where a lot of them were killed by Superboy Prime and ''Faces of Evil: Prometheus'' where a lot of them were killed by the titular villain. Still, several of them are still alive (though Gunfire is minus his hands for now).

* Even TheLegionOfSuperHeroes went through this phase. Traditionally a bastion of SomethingPerson names, the '90s-era reboot turned Lighting Lad into "Live Wire", Triplicate Girl into "Triad", Colossal Boy into "Leviathan", Princess Projectra into "Sensor", and so forth. When the series was rebooted ''again'' in 2004, most of the new names went by the wayside, and the SomethingPerson codenames returned to the fore.
** Interestingly, it was the 1989 'Five Years Later' series that prompted this, not the 1994 reboot: the adult Legion primarily dropped their codenames entirely, and the [[SpinoffBabies kid versions]] that coexisted with them changed their codenames to the "new, cool" non-SomethingPerson ones.
*Many of the new super people created for ''KingdomCome'' embody this trope: Nightstar (Starfire and Nightwing's daughter), 666, Bat-Knight, Black Mongul, [=NIL8=], Swastika, Demon Damsel, Shiva the Destroyer and Cathedral... This is deliberate, since ''KingdomCome'' is a deconstruction of the DarkAge.
* {{Nightwing}} celebrated his own ongoing series by moving to a town named [[HeavyMetalUmlaut Blüdhaven]]. Seriously. It was described as being close to Gotham (the Bat-Family frequently guest-starred in each other's comics), but was also described unambiguously as more crime-ridden and corrupt than Gotham, although 50+ years of comics never saw Batman so much as chase a purse-snatcher there. Seriously. Eventually the whole city got destroyed during the ''InfiniteCrisis'' crossover event.

* Despite predating the trend, [[{{Watchmen}} Watchmen's]] Rorschach seems like a prototype of this.
** That's because he WAS an early prototype of this. Watchmen in general, and Rorschach in particular, was an UnbuiltTrope precursor to and inspiration for the DarkAge.
* [[Comicbook/TeenTitans Deathstroke the Terminator]], anybody? A good example of a character managing to stay top-tier despite a name that seems hilariously over the top today.

* TheMaxx, whose series, was ironically, phenomenal. In his own book, the Maxx [[CrossOver met]] The Pitt, though, an Image character who and starred in a rather less distinguished (and shorter-lived) comic.

* ''Youngblood'': Deathshot, Vogue, Chapel, Psylence (sometimes Psilence), Bloodwolf, Diehard, Wylder. RobLiefeld was one of the big popularizers of this trope, and probably helped [[OverusedRunningGag everyone get sick of it]] too.

** He kills people...really obviously?

* ''Darkchylde'' is mentioned above as it is, but to be perfectly fair that's her actual last name; she hardly chose it for herself or anything.
** That doesn't change the fact that the writers decided to give her such a silly last name. There probably aren't too many people named "Darkchylde" in real life.

* ''[[Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}} Venom]]'' (Who had his own DarkerAndEdgier series where he was an AntiHero) and his AxCrazy spawn ''Carnage''.
** This tradition is also carried on by his spawn Toxin, fortunately [[DarkIsNotEvil he doesn't follow the other one]].
* Night Thrasher (of ''NewWarriors'' fame).
**... whose name came from his [[FadSuper advanced weaponized]] ''[[FadSuper skateboard]]'', thank you very much.
*''Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}}'' once lampshaded this. While fighting alongside ''Night Thrasher'' and ''{{The Punisher}}'' he responded to their insults to his name with "Oh please! Insults from someone who sounds like he has [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar naughty nighttime dreams]] and another who sounds like he wants to spank people?!"
* [[IronMan War Machine]].

* Adam X the X-treme. Hellion. Plus Warpath, Rage, Warstar, Kill Power, Nemesis, Onyxx, Thornn, Darkdevil, Darkhawk, Deathcry, Anarchist, Spitfire and Armageddon.
** Please note that there was a Spitfire who was originally a silver age creation in a book set in WWII - she was a speedster, and named herself after the aircraft.

**Also from the 70s Raza Longknife, Killraven and Daimon Hellstrom (the Son of Satan).

** Note that the name justification and "P-Cat" name were brought up in the humorous Great Lakes Avengers miniseries and are doubtlessly a TakeThat.
** Considering how ridiculously emo his self-puncturing suit design is, he should have been named Daily Blood Transfusion Man.
* The short-lived Marvel UK sub-universe had the Warheads, Motormouth, Killpower (seriously!), Death's Head, Death Metal, Death Wreck (the last three versions of the same character), Hell's Angel (later Dark Angel, following a lawsuit by [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels well, guess]]) and Genetix. Oh, and a number of these appeared in a comic called ''Overkill''.
** *ahem* Actually, the line featured Death's Head ''2'', a DarkerAndEdgier version of a CanonImmigrant from the Marvel UK ''{{Transformers}}'' comic and predecessor to Deadpool. Learn to tell the difference, [[VerbalTic yes]]?
*** Come to think of it, at least half the Transformers have names that sound like this. Ravage, Prowl, Deadend, Dirge, Snarl, Razorclaw, etc...

* Penance (not to be confused with the guy MarvelComics fans call "[[FanNickname Bleedball]]").
** Previous to "Bleedball" there was another Penance in MarvelComics (''Generation X'') and her story is WAY too confused and incomplete to even begin explaining.
* The ''[[{{WildCATS}} Wild C.A.T.s]]'' in their entirety; Warblade, Grifter, Maul, Zealot, etc.
** Also poked fun at in ''{{WildCATS}}'', when Ladytron asks someone "what's up with this kill-hell-death-blood name thing?" (Naturally, the other guy makes fun of the name "Ladytron", and hijinx ensue.)
* ''TheAuthority'''s Midnighter (despite him snarking about someone else in the opening quote) is actually a sort of hidden reference. The Midnighters were a 60s soul band- of the sort that would perform at... The Apollo, which is his partner's name.) And to be fair to the guy, he didn't choose his codename, and without knowing his real name it's the closest thing he has to one.
* ''{{Gen13}}'': Grunge. Dated before the ink was dry. Admittedly, it still fits him rather well. He's a pretty grungy guy, and not in the musical sense.

* Parodied ruthlessly with the New Zealand comic ''[[http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/b/blodface.htm Bloodface]]'', and his team the "Bloodgroup", all of whom have Blood in their names, constantly scream and grimace, and are drawn like Rob Liefeld characters.
** The only female member of the team is called [[{{Squick}} Wandering Menstrual]]
*** Wow. I can't decide what's worse, [[BrainBleach the implication of her powers]] or [[IncrediblyLamePun that wordplay]]...

* Syndrome, the BigBad of ''TheIncredibles'' was almost certainly named to evoke this kind of effect, in contrast to the SilverAge naming of the heroes (and even other villains like Bomb Voyage or The Underminer.)

* Parodied in ''PennyArcade'', with the character Raven Darktalon Blood.
** That's ''[[TheyCallMeMisterTibbs Doctor]]'' Raven Darktalon Blood to the likes of you.
** Not to mention Grimm Shado.
*** Grimm Shado is proper ''gangsta''
* In ''TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', Dr. [=McNinja=]'s brother Sean gives himself the codename "Dark Smoke Puncher," an arguably ludicrous moniker.
** This fact isn't lost on Doc himself, who says that it sounds like something he got from a friend playing ''{{Counterstrike}}''.

* As seen in the quote up top, Linkara pokes fun at this trope with his DarkAge fanboy character, 90's Kid and his character, Bloodgun. Though in the later review of ''Darker [[ImageComics Image]]'' #1 [[spoiler:even 90's Kid coincides that Deathblow is stupid name]].

*Many of the new super people created for ''KingdomCome'' embody this trope: Nightfire (Starfire and Nightwing's daughter), 666, Bat-Knight, Black Mongul, [=NIL8=], Swastika, Demon Damsel, Shiva the Destroyer and Cathedral... This is deliberate, since ''KingdomCome'' is a deconstruction of the DarkAge.

* The Norse were not averse to nicknames like this, "Eric Bloodaxe" and "Björn Ironside" being two famous examples. They also cheerfully inverted it at times, with names like "Ragnar Hairy-Breeks" being applied to one of the most fearsome warlords of the age.